Career
On 18 March 1975, however, he was arrested on a forgery charge. An arduous court case followed, in which several well-known Dutch and European professional archaeologists (including German archaeologist Gerhard Bosinski) supported the accusations. Several amateur archaeologists, on the other hand, were convinced of Vermaning"s innocence and mounted their own campaign to get him acquitted.
Vermaning was initially found guilty of fraud and was sentenced to one month in prison in 1977, but he appealed the verdict.
In 1978 Vermaning was acquitted on appeal because it had not been proven, in the eyes of the judge, that he had himself forged the artefacts in question. Despite Vermaning"s acquittal, consensus among professional archaeologists was and is that the artefacts are not authentic.
Vermaning felt that as a result of the court case his integrity had been shattered, and he remained bitter about the affair and resentful toward academic archaeology for the rest of his life. Foreign years or even decades the Vermaning affair strained the relations between Dutch amateur and professional archaeologists, especially in the northern region where Vermaning had been active.